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State of Maine's Environment 2012

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State of Maine's Environment 2012 State of Maine’s Environment 2012 ______________________________________________________________________________ Colby Environmental Policy Group Colby College Environmental Studies Program Waterville, Maine State of Maine’s Environment 2012 State of Maine's Environment 2012 Colby Environmental Policy Group Carla Aronsohn Garrison Beck Kaitlyn Bernard Jackson Broadbent Lindsay Garrard Siya Hegde Ginny Keesler Laramie Maxwell Noah Teachy The State of Maine's Environment is a series of reports written and produced by the Colby Environmental Policy Group, senior environmental policy majors at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. This is the seventh State of Maine's Environment report created by students enrolled in ES 493: Environmental Policy Practicum taught by Philip J. Nyhus, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at Colby College. Suggested Citation for Full Report: Colby Environmental Policy Group. 2012. State of Maine’s Environment 2012. Waterville, Maine: Colby College Environmental Studies Program. Contact: Philip J. Nyhus, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, Colby College, Waterville, ME 04901 <[email protected]> Electronic Version of Report: http://web.colby.edu/stateofmaine2012/ © Colby College Environmental Studies Program, Waterville, ME 04901 1 State of Maine’s Environment 2012 2 State of Maine’s Environment 2012 Acknowledgements We would like to thank the following individuals for their help and support with our research for the State of Maine's Environment 2012 report: Kathy Eickenberg Chief of Planning, Maine Division of Parks and Public Lands Wolfe Tone Maine State Director, The Trust for Public Land R. Collin Therrien Senior Planner, Maine Dept. of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry Chris Pryor Conservation Easement Monitoring Coordinator and Forester, New England Forestry Foundation Warren Whitney Land Trust Program Manager, Maine Coast Heritage Trust Theresa Kerchner Executive Director, Kennebec Land Trust Cathy Johnson North Woods Project Director, Natural Resources Council of Maine Monica Erhard Linkage Coordinator, Staying Connected Initiative Dan Coker GIS Analyst / Conservation, The Nature Conservancy Emmie Theberge Clean Energy and Global Warming Outreach Coordinator, Natural Resources Council of Maine Dylan Voorhees Clean Energy and Global Warming Project Director, Natural Resources Council of Maine Matt Kearns Vice President Development Northeast, First Wind Abby King Toxics Policy Advocate, Natural Resources Council of Maine Harold Nilsson Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management, Maine Department of Environmental Protection Roy Krout Sustainability Unit, Maine Department of Environmental Protection Maggie Shannon Maine Congress of Lake Associations Pat Sirois Director, Maine's Sustainable Forestry Initiative Andy Shultz Landowner Outreach Forester, Maine Forest Service Greg Miller GIS Programmer Analyst for the Maine Forest Service Rob Lilieholm E.L. Giddings Associate Professor of Forest Policy, University of Maine Ken Olsen Friends of Acadia Pete Didisheim Senior Director of Advocacy, Natural Resources Council of Maine From Colby College we acknowledge the help of: Philip Nyhus Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Manny Gimond GIS and Quantitative Analysis Specialist Lia Morris Environmental Studies Coordinator Leah Powley Student Assistant, Environmental Studies Program Russ Cole Chair, Environmental Studies Program Tom Tietenberg Mitchell Family Professor of Economics (Emeritus) Patricia Murphy Director, Physical Plant Department Dale DeBlois Environmental Program Manager, Physical Plant Department Travis Reynolds Environmental Studies Program 3 State of Maine’s Environment 2012 4 State of Maine’s Environment 2012 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... 3 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ 5 Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 7 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 9 The State of Large Landscape Conservation in Maine ........................................................... 11 Executive Summary .................................................................................................................. 11 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 11 Methods .................................................................................................................................... 18 Laws and Institutions ................................................................................................................ 18 State of Large Landscape Conservation ................................................................................... 25 Implications .............................................................................................................................. 46 Scenarios ................................................................................................................................... 53 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 55 Recommendations ..................................................................................................................... 55 Works Cited .............................................................................................................................. 56 The State of Energy Infrastructure in Maine........................................................................... 63 Executive Summary .................................................................................................................. 63 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 63 Methods .................................................................................................................................... 67 Laws and Institutions ................................................................................................................ 68 Stakeholders .............................................................................................................................. 71 State of Electricity Transmission in Maine ............................................................................... 78 State of Natural Gas Transmission in Maine ............................................................................ 80 Implications .............................................................................................................................. 85 Scenarios ................................................................................................................................... 89 Recommendations ..................................................................................................................... 91 Works Cited .............................................................................................................................. 94 The State of Industrial Hazardous Waste in Maine ................................................................ 97 Executive Summary .................................................................................................................. 97 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 97 Methods .................................................................................................................................. 100 Laws and Institutions .............................................................................................................. 101 Stakeholders ............................................................................................................................ 107 State of Industrial Hazardous Waste ....................................................................................... 109 Scenarios ................................................................................................................................. 127 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................. 128 Recommendations ................................................................................................................... 129 5 State of Maine’s Environment 2012 Appendices .............................................................................................................................. 130 Works Cited ............................................................................................................................ 133 The State of Voluntary Certification Programs in Maine .................................................... 137 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................ 137 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 137 Methods .................................................................................................................................
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